The Demon Within
by Mota Naruto
Summary: Naruto has always wondered why everyone hates him, and doesn't know what resides within him. R&R!
1. Introduction

**Chapter One - Introduction**

Naruto stepped over the corpse, drenched in blood. He let the heavenly tears from the sky wash most of it away.

'Why does everyone want me dead?' he wondered, tears streaking his young face.

Naruto knew nothing of what resided within him, but noticed a certain chakra envelope him when he was angry or in danger. It was powerful, but had an evil taint to it. It seemed red.

'Oh well' he thought absentmindedly, 'I'll think about the red chakra later, right now I need some real food.'

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was an eleven-year-old boy. He didn't go to the academy because he couldn't stand the evil glares from the teachers and students. He was well built, though rather lacking in height. He had bright, blond, spiky hair and strange whisker scars on his cheeks. He thought they were cool. He also had piercing blue eyes that seemed to notice everything. He wore a horrid orange jumpsuit because that was the only thing the shopkeepers would sell him at an affordable price. He also had on goggles for kicks. Despite his appearance, Naruto was very skilled, though he didn't show it. He didn't want that kind of attention. He let everyone think he was some retard, though he was smart and strong enough to kill the three Chunin he just did. He trained intensively by himself in taijutsu and using shuriken and kunai. He wasn't able to train in ninjutsu until recently, after the Hokage let him borrow some basic scrolls to study. His ninjutsu knowledge was of that of a low Chunin and his taijutsu was superior to most Chunin. His ability in genjutsu was horrible, though he would practice it all the same. The only person who was aware of his dumb charade was the Hokage, the only person-besides Teuchi and Ayame (Ichiraku people)-decent towards Naruto.

Naruto always wondered that if the most important person in the village is nice to, why is no one else?

Naruto pondered that thought on the way home as he walked. He didn't notice a certain emo as he bumped right into him.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" exclaimed the emo.

"Sorry…" mumbled Naruto, nervous at meeting someone his age.

"You better respect me, I'm better than you. I go to the academy! You're just a nobody. Uchiha Sasuke doesn't associate with trash like you!"

A vein bulged in Naruto's head. This was getting extremely out-of-hand.

"Lick my shoes you worthless trash!"

"No." said Naruto loudly.

"What!? I'll kill you!!"

Sasuke charged at Naruto with a kunai out. He jumped and threw the kunai. Naruto disappeared before his very eyes and reappeared behind him. He grabbed Sasuke's arms and put them behind his back and kicked him to the ground. He put his foot on Sasuke's head and placed a kunai at his throat.

"Do you want to die?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto and saw a red chakra envelope him and thick whisker marks on his cheeks. He felt sharp nails on his head, but most disconcerting of all were his eyes. They were a deep red, like fire and his pupils…his pupils were slitted like a fox.

"N-no…" stammered the emo. Naruto released him and Sasuke ran screaming monster at the top of his lungs.

'I better go before he attracts to much attention' sighed Naruto as he trudged on him, taking the back alleys.

* * *

Naruto made it home without difficulty and changed out of his blood-soaked jumpsuit into another. He then made some miso instant ramen and gulped it down.

'Now to practice my taijutsu'

Naruto was fighting with a dummy he made out of some pillows. He practiced his attacks for 2 hours and moved onto weapons. He took out shurikens and through them at vital points at the dummy. He never missed. Now onto ninjutsu. He could never do Bunshin no Jutsu, no matter how hard he tried, but he could do Kawarimi, Henge, and some other basic ones. He had yet to learn elemental jutsus. Naruto was too exhausted to even think about genjutsu so he lumbered to his bed and collapsed. Another day, over.

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	2. A New Friend

**Chapter Two - A New Friend**

Naruto woke at 8:35 the next morning. He stared groggily at his alarm clock.

'Oh damn. I slept in hella late.'

Naruto got out of bed and stretched, yawning. He stripped out of his clothes and changed into a fresh set of them. Yesterday's events came racing back from the recesses of his mind.

'Three Chunin tried to kill me yesterday as well as some emo retard. Uhicha Sakuge, or whatever his name was. It didn't matter. He was some gay low-level academy student anyways. Naruto brushed his teeth, washed his face, etc. Then he got to doing 500 push-ups, 600 sit-ups, and 1000 pull-ups.

'What a nice warm-up' thought Naruto fully refreshed. He went and made some ramen for breakfast. He waited impatiently for the water to boil and for the three minutes of cooking. He slurped down 10 cups of instant ramen and went outside, where the bright sun greeted him as always.

'Now for my laps.'

Naruto always did 20 laps around the village after breakfast. He was running and he saw a bushy-browed kid getting picked on by some rotten brats.

"Hey Lee, you can't even use chakra! Why the hell do you even try? You're a damn failure!" shouted out one damn punk. Naruto sized him up. He was about 4'10" and wimpy looking. Lee was taller and more built. Lee could take him down so Naruto stopped to see what would happen.

"Get out of here Lee!"

"No!" exclaimed Lee, with a defiant glint in his eye, "I will prove you can be an excellent ninja with just taijutsu!"

"Get real!"

The wimp came and pushed Lee and Lee didn't retaliate. It pissed Naruto off that they picked on him. He waited a bit longer, and it became clear that Lee wouldn't fight back. The kids were punching him and Naruto made his move. In a span of one second he was behind the leader of the kids and muttered in a deadly whisper,

"Get out of here if you don't want to get hurt."

"Yeah? What can you do, brat?"

Naruto brought his knee up to the kids back and grabbed his head and slammed it to the ground knocking him out. The other kids charged at him, thinking they could outnumber him, but Naruto was too fast. He ducked the first kid's punch and roundhouse kicked him in the face. He dodged behind two others and slammed their heads together, and the last two ran away, screaming for their life. Naruto helped Lee up and said'

"Hi, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Why'd you let those kids pick on you? You could've beaten them."

"I am Rock Lee. I did not fight back because I did not want to participate in unnecessary fighting."

"Why were they picking on you?"

"I-I cannot use chakra…" Lee looked down shamefacedly. Naruto looked strangely at Lee, considering what to say next.

"What's wrong with that?" Lee looked up. "As long as you can fight back, you can be a ninja. Come on. Run with me. I need to do twenty laps around the village. For training, you know."

* * *

After the laps, Naruto decided to visit Hokage-jiji. Lee came with him.

"Hey old man! I need some more ninjutsu scrolls! C'mon, give me something big!"

Lee looked amazed by his blatant disrespect for the Hokage, but Sarutobi chuckled.

"Alright Naruto, I got something big for you: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Master this in a week and I'll give you more."

"You know I can't do bunshins!"

"This is different. Trust me, you can do this one. In fact, you can probably do this better than anyone in the village, due to your abnormally large chakra reserves. Kage Bunshin makes real clones. Living clones. It divides your chakra evenly, and since you have so much, it won't be a problem."

"Oh cool! Thanks Hokage-jiji! Also, me and Lee here want to learn advanced taijutsu"

"That can be arranged."

Sarutobi called in a Chunin,

"Go get Maito Gai straightaway."

"Hai"

"Who's Maito Gai?" asked Lee timidly.

The hokage eyed Lee kindly,

"He will be your taijutsu instructor. He is very strong and specializes in taijutsu. He is also a jonin."

"Awesome" exclaimed Naruto.

"You called Hokage-sama?"

A tall man wearing green spandex, a bowl cut, and a huge smile walked in. He was buffed out. What Naruto noticed most were his thick eyebrows. Naruto turned to Lee,

"Is he related to you?"

"No. It must be a coincidence."

"This is Maito Gai. He will be your taijutsu instructor.'

Gai-sensei looked at Naruto and Lee and smiled broadly. His teeth sparkled.

"I see the fires of youth burning within you! Do not let it burn out! It is very strong. Train to the fullest extent of youth!"

Naruto and Lee sweatdropped.

"Come my students, and let us bond!"

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	3. A Secret Unveiled

**Chapter 3 - A Secret Unveiled**

Gai-sensei turned out to be very skilled in taijutsu and he was very enthusiastic about teaching. He made Naruto and Lee wear 30 lbs. of weights on each limb all the time. They were not allowed to take them off, except for showering. He would increase the weights to 50lbs. after a month. Naruto and Lee would train together in the morning and meet with Gai-sensei in the afternoon to work on taijutsu and weapons. Naruto would return home to practice his ninjutsu and genjutsu. He was slowly improving in genjutsu and his growth in ninjutsu was rapid. He mastered Kage Bunshin no Jutsu in just one day and is working on others. Lee took to wearing green spandex like his hero Gai-sensei and started ranting about the fires of youth. He was basically a miniature Gai. Naruto was on his way home when he saw the gay brat again. He smirked and the emo glared at him.

"I challenge you to a fight!"

"You want to die for real this time, huh Sasuge?"

"It's Sasuke!!"

"Who gives a damn?"

"That's it!"

Sasuke charged at Naruto, preparing to land a punch on him when Naruto disappeared into thin air and reappeared in a tree. He threw a rock at Sasuke. It hit him, but in a poof, Sasuke disappeared and a log was in his place.

'He's learned a trick or two, huh?'

"Katon: Goukyakuu no Jutsu!"

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw a huge fireball come his way.

"Suiton: Suijinheki!'

Naruto produced a water barrier just barely strong enough to extinguish the fireball. Water-style jutsus were not his forte.

"How could someone like you stop my attack?! I'm an Uchiha! I'm superior."

"Not that crap again"

Naruto decided to play with him a bit. He noticed a lake nearby.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

A large dragon made of water erupted from the lake. Due to Naruto's incompetence with water jutsus, it wasn't strong, but it scared the little Uchiha silly. Naruto made the dragon soar above Sasuke and drop on him, soaking him through. Then he jumped from the tree and drop kicked Sasuke, knocking him out instantly. He strutted on his way to home, but thought better of it and went to Ichiraku. He walked up to the counter.

"Hey! Old man! One large miso ramen with pork!"

"Coming right up, Naruto" replied Teuchi. After ten minutes, Ayame, Teuchi's daughter, brought the ramen to Naruto.

"Itadakimasu!"

Naruto tore apart the chopsticks and ate with gusto.

"Seconds!!"

* * *

After fifteen bowls of ramen, Naruto ran home to practice his ninjutsu and genjutsu and to take a shower. He fell asleep, but awoke to someone knocking urgently at his door. He grumbled incoherently and trudged over to his door and opened it. It was Lee and he looked very scared.

"Naruto-san, the villagers are talking about attacking you because the Uchiha said you attacked him."

Naruto looked past Lee and saw a mob of villagers walking towards his house. He didn't want to fight so he and Lee escaped to the Hokage's tower.

"Old man!" exclaimed Naruto, "The villagers are going to attack me because I knocked out Sasuke, but he attacked me first so it was self-defense!"

"Calm down, Naruto. I will get this settled straightaway"

The Hokage got up and went outside to intervene with the villagers. Naruto and Lee followed.

"He must be killed! The demon brat attacked the last of a noble clan. Surely it is the influence of the demon!" yelled a villager.

'Demon,' thought Naruto, 'what demon?'

Then he noticed the villagers glaring at him every time they mentioned the demon.

"I'M NOT A DEMON!!"

Everyone turned to look at Naruto.

"Of course you are! The Kyuubi was sealed into you when he attacked the village! He didn't die! The fourth sealed him into you! YOU ARE THE KYUU-" the villager collapsed on the ground with a kunai in his chest. The third was glaring at the villager.

"That was a crime punishable by death. Any other to speak of it will get the same reward."

Hokage looked at Naruto and Lee.

"Come on" he said. They went back to the Hokage tower.

* * *

"What do they mean demon?"

The Hokage sighed. He might as well tell him now.

"You are aware that the Kyuubi no Kitsune-or nine-tails-attacked this village eleven years ago, correct?"

Naruto nodded.

"And that he was defeated by the Fourth Hokage?"

"Yes"

"Well," started the Hokage, "He wasn't killed. He was sealed into a newborn baby. And that baby was you, Naruto. You are not the demon, but rather the jailer, though the villagers only see you as the demon."

Naruto couldn't believe it.

"I hold the demon?"

"Yes. You should be seen as a hero, for keeping it inside, but they see you as a reminder of that day. Of all the pain and suffering. The fourth wanted you to be seen as a hero, but no one heeds his wish. Haven't you ever noticed anything strange about yourself?"

Naruto nodded.

"I heal extremely quickly. Just yesterday I accidentally dropped a kunai on my foot, and it's healed. I also have this different chakra. It's really powerful, but evil. It feels red, unlike my normal blue."

"Those are the effects of the demon. You must not rely on the demon's power though. If you abuse that power, it may consume you, unleashing the Kyuubi."

Naruto nodded.

"Now go home and sleep. You have much to think about."

* * *

Lee walked Naruto home.

"You don't hate me, Lee?" asked Naruto.

"Of course not! You are still Uzumaki Naruto and nothing will change that. You are my one and only friend."

"Thanks, Lee."

Naruto walked into his home and lay in bed, pondering the day's events. He lay thinking, 'There's a demon inside of me.' Naruto fell asleep thinking about the demon.

Naruto was in some sort of sewer. He felt the red chakra a distance away. He walked towards it and arrived at a huge cage with a paper that said 'Seal' on it.

'This must be the fox's cage inside of me.'

As if on cue, the fox appeared inside of the cage, grinning at Naruto.

**Hello Kit.**

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	4. Signing Of The Contract

**Chapter 4 - Signing Of The Contract**

**Hello Kit.**

Naruto gasped. 'It spoke to me.'

**Of course I spoke to you. What, you thought I was an ordinary, mindless** **fox?**

'N-no'

**Do me a favor, Kit. Take off that little decoration, you know, that paper on the cage.**

'No. That's the seal keeping you in here.'

**Take it off.**

'No. You can't make me either. You can't get out of that cage.'

**I knew it wouldn't be this easy**

Naruto found it strange that the demon did not show any level of hostility. He expected the demon to bombard him with death threats and the like.

**Don't call me 'demon'. I'm called Kyuubi. Or Lord of Foxes. Whichever is fine. And I'm not that mean. I just attacked your village cause, you know, a fox has gotta eat. You guys can eat pork, chicken, and beef. Why can't we eat humans?**

The fox actually has a point.

**Of course I do. I always have a point.**

Arrogant, much?

**Of course not. How could you consider me, a perfect being, arrogant? In fact, I must say that I am quite modest.**

Naruto sweat dropped.

'Say, Kyuubi?'

**What?**

'You've been around a long time, right?'

**Yup**

'Think you can teach me some jutsus?'

**Not yet.**

'Why?'

**Don't question me.**

'Damn'

**But I could give you something**

'Really? What?'

**A fox summoning contract**

'Wow! But I didn't know there was one. Where do I get one?'

**I can make one Kit. I am the Lord of Foxes. Here you go.**

A scroll appeared from behind the cage. Naruto opened it and saw it was the summoning contract.

**Sign your name in blood**

'OK'

Naruto signed the contract and waited for something to happen.

**Now bite your thumb to make it bleed, slam your hand on the ground and say: Kuchiyose no Jutsu.**

'Alright'

Naruto did as was told and a small fox appeared from thin air. It was only a foot tall and was a reddish brown. It looked at Naruto and said, "Yo!"

"I'm Akashi"

"I'm Naruto"

**You go and summon a runt. Great going. You need a lot of chakra. I can loan you my chakra when you need it. And you won't lose control or be consumed like the old man said.**

'Cool'

**Alright. Now get out. I want to sleep.**

'OK'

* * *

Naruto awoke feeling as if all that happened was a dream, but it was real. He visited the fox while he was asleep.

He wanted to make sure though.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Akashi appeared.

"I'm out again?"

"Oh. Sorry. You can go now."

It was real. Naruto couldn't believe it. He really talked to the fox and could now summon foxes. He wondered if he could somehow summon the Kyuubi. Anyways, the Kyuubi wasn't half bad. He seemed decent enough. He had to go see the Hokage now. He hurried and got ready and rushed to the tower.

* * *

"Old man!"

"Naruto. You're back."

"I talked to the Kyuubi!"

"What!"

"I'm serious! I visited him when I fell asleep. He gave me a contract to summon foxes, look."

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

This time Naruto put in more chakra and got a large fox, the size of a full-grown man. The fox was a female.

"I am Kasai Kusabana. How may I serve you?"

The Hokage looked dumbstruck. He had never heard of a fox summon. And Naruto claimed to have spoken to the Kyuubi. Today was a crazy day.

Naruto was grinning from ear to ear and looked so proud. He looked at Kusabana and said,

"You can go now"

She nodded and disappeared in a burst of flame.

"Hey old man. The Kyuubi isn't as bad as everyone says he is. He's pretty decent once you get to know him.'

The Hokage just nodded.

"Well, I'm off."

And Naruto disappeared to train with Lee. Sarutobi sat back in his chair and thought, 'Naruto, I'm expecting great things from you.'

* * *

Naruto relayed the whole thing to Lee and Gai-sensei and they were both amazed and speechless. Gai-sensei started going on about youth afterwards, and how Naruto was so youthful. Lee was just struck dumb. Today was also the day that the weights that Naruto and Lee wore increased. They both had 50 lbs. on each limb for a total of 200 extra lbs. Both of them were very sluggish during training, and they could barely even do 200 push-ups. Still, they worked hard and long. Naruto also decided he wanted a real weapon now. He wanted a sword, but he couldn't afford one, so he made a makeshift one out of wood. He would practice on his dummy everyday and would borrow kendo scrolls from the Hokage. Naruto was rapidly becoming one of the greatest ninjas to reside in the fire country. And this was just the beginning.

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Review for more chapters! Please!

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	5. Equally Matched

**Chapter 5 - Equally Matched**

"You're fires of youth are burning out!" exclaimed Gai-sensei as Naruto and Lee collapsed after 150 push-ups.

"C'mon Gai-sensei, we're wearing 200 LBS! Give us a break." Pleaded the blonde ramen addict.

"I agree with Naruto-san, sensei," proclaimed Bushy-Brows, "I suggest we rest to let our embers of youth erupt into a roaring fire!"

"No. You must work to your fullest extent if you want to improve!" exclaimed the buff green beast.

"Fine. If we do another hundred, will you treat us to ramen?" asked the Kyuubi container.

"Of course!"

Naruto started doing push-ups again with a renewed vigor. Lee sighed and joined in.

'Gai-sensei has no idea how much ramen Naruto will eat.' Thought Lee, feeling sorry for his sensei's wallet.

* * *

After Ichiraku, Gai-sensei looked sadly down at his wallet, tears streaming down his face.

'I never knew Naruto ate so much…'

Naruto and Lee looked full and happy with their stomachs _and _wallets filled.

Naruto and Lee ran off to go practice with wooden swords. Gai looked proudly at his students, thinking that he did a great job. At that time, he noticed Hatake Kakashi walking up the street, immersed in his book.

"Yosh! My eternal rival! We meet again!' shouted Gai!

"Hmm? Did you say something?" asked the silver-haired jonin.

"Cool as always I see…"

"Hmm…I see you picked up two kids, Gai"

"Hai! They are Uzumaki Naruto and Rock Lee! I am training them both."

Kakashi looked genuinely surprised, his one visible eye widening.

"The Kyuubi container and the chakra-less kid? Hmm… Interesting… Well, good luck with that."

And the masked nin disappeared.

* * *

Naruto and Lee were sparring for nearly three hours when they gave up. Naruto was superior in sparring, while Lee was above him in taijutsu. Both were equal in speed, though.

"That was a good workout Naruto-kun"

"Yeah…I'm exhausted."

Just then they heard a window shatter. Naruto's bedroom window was broken and there was a kunai in his room. Naruto was instantly alert. He peered outside and saw six Chunin armed with kunai and shuriken.

Lee was about to jump outside but Naruto stopped him.

"I want to do this by myself."

Naruto leaped out the window and landed nimbly.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Kusabana appeared instantly and looked at Naruto for directions.

"Incapacitate these men."

She merely nodded. Then she leaped and clawed two at once and bit another, not killing them, but knocking the out. She then shot a mid power fireball at two more, burning them. She turned to the last one when Naruto said

"Stop. You are dismissed."

She nodded and vanished.

The remaining Chunin thought he could take Naruto alone and charged at him with a kunai in each hand. He threw them and Naruto deflected them with his own. The man jumped and kicked Naruto, but Naruto used a kawarimi with one of the unconscious men on the ground.

"Damn."

He threw more kunai in Naruto's direction, but Naruto easily dodged them all. He ran up to the Chunin, took him by his throat and slammed him into the ground. He then stepped on him and punched his face, rendering him unconscious. Naruto did not kill anyone but left them outside and walked back into his house. Lee looked amazed by the ease at which Naruto defeated six Chunin.

That was when Gai-sensei appeared with Kakashi.

"What happened? I heard a commotion and yells, so I came over to see what happened."

"Naruto-san just defeated six Chunin in less than two minutes without a scratch. The Chunin attacked Naruto so he knocked them all out."

Kakashi was amazed. He looked at Naruto.

"You did that?"

"Hai. Who are you?"

"I am Hatake Kakashi, a jonin."

"And my eternal rival" added Gai.

"Well Gai, I must say that I am impressed in your student. Is Lee as strong?"

"Yup," cut in Naruto, "In fact, he's better than me at taijutsu, though he can't do ninjutsu."

Kakashi couldn't believe it. Two eleven-year-olds could defeat six Chunin without breaking a sweat? Even he couldn't do that when he was that young, and he was considered a prodigy.

"Did you take your weights off, Naruto?"

"No, I still have all 200 lbs. on."

Kakashi couldn't he believe his ears. Not only did he defeat six Chunin, but he was also lugging around 200 lbs.

"Naruto," started Kakashi, "Could you take off your weights and spar with me, no weapons?"

Naruto looked at Gai-sensei and Gai nodded his approval. Naruto removed his weights, dropping them on the ground, cracking the cement. He got into his ready stance and looked at Kakashi.

Both of them disappeared and reappeared with their arms headed for each other's face. They both blocked and landed on the ground. Kakashi got behind Naruto and kicked him in the back, only to have him disappear in a puff of smoke.

'Kage Bunshin?'

Naruto leaped from behind a tree towards Kakashi and aimed a kick straight for his jaw. Kakashi grabbed his leg, but Naruto twisted in his grasp and used his other leg to kick Kakashi right in the face. Kakashi poofed from existence.

'He can do Kage Bunshin too?'

They both fought for an hour, slowly tiring, neither finding an advantage and called it a tie. Naruto panted and looked at Kakashi, who was in a similar state. Naruto looked at him.

"You didn't fight your hardest, did you? You have an advantage. Your hidden eye."

"Very observant. Yes I do. But despite that, you are equally matched with many jonin. You could defeat some jonin in this village with your abilities. You are a rare shinobi. And you said that Lee was better at taijutsu? You both are formidable opponents. Keep training, and you may become Hokage one day."

And with that, Kakashi disappeared.

'Hokage, huh? I like the sound of that…'

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